Things are looking up. First, in the comments from yesterday’s post is this nice piece of work from Cameron Cooper, who I believe has located the handball courts in the 1946(7) aerial:
There’s definitely an elevated rectangular structure about where the handball court is shown to be. Look just above and to the right of the bridge (on “the road back”) that passes over the gully (“the blue danube”) right outside the old stadium. A pale rectangle casting a shadow. Hard to say with the overexposure, but probably a flat roof. Matches perfectly with the handball courts.
Doesn’t look that big next to the stadium, but it’s a decent-sized building. About as wide as the Baker old wing. Appears to be a light-colored path (gravel?) going down to the main path, a little left of center. There also appears to be an ad hoc path running to it from the “West Hall”.
Next, looking through old Threshers I found this fall 1945 article about the rifle range that is so perfect it almost can’t be true. It not only tells us exactly where it is–hidden, as we suspected, in the trees just north of the handball courts near the top curve of the stadium–but also describes the interior and the activities that took place inside it:
I kept turning pages and up popped this article from February 1945, evidence that all that practice paid off:
Finally, between Grungy and Marty I think we’ve established that the mysterious oval where the BRC is today was indeed a pony ride. I’d be able to rest easy if I only knew who Mrs. Hardy was.
I’ll show you the 1956 aerial next week. I didn’t expect so much progress in one day–it’s not normal.